Karam is all business on the track

LONG POND — If Sage Karam has proven anything in his young racing career it's that he's a quick learner.

MIKE KUHNS

LONG POND — If Sage Karam has proven anything in his young racing career it's that he's a quick learner.

A neighbor to the Andretti family in Nazareth, the 18-year-old Karam listened intently to what Mario, Michael and Marco Andretti told him over the years. One piece of advice still sticks with the blonde-haired energetic young man — advice that came from Michael Andretti.

"I drove for Andretti for three years and I'll never forget one thing Michael always said to me was the minute you get cocky in this sport you will fall," Karam said. "And, even though I don't drive for Michael anymore, I still live by those words and they still stick with me."

Karam has been forced to do plenty of growing up the past year. For the last three months he's lived in his own apartment in Indianapolis, away from his family and friends. At today's Indy Lights Series race at Pocono Raceway, he'll get to see both and have plenty of support in the stands.

He'll qualify for today's race at 12:15 p.m. and the 40-lap race will start at 4 p.m. Karam, the series points leader, will shoot for his third straight victory. Karam won at Milwaukee and Iowa in the last two races.

It's been quite a season for Karam, who will return to Nazareth after his racing season and finish his senior year at Nazareth High School. His father, Jody, a health and physical education teacher and 20-year wrestling coach at Liberty High School, still remembers building a dirt track for Sage when he was just 4.

"He started doing laps and the faster he went the more fun he was having, so it was apparent right away that's what he wanted to do," Jody Karam said.

The father knew at a young age his son loved cars, he loved going fast and he loved racing. One issue that still bothers Jody is the safety factor, though.

He said when Sage is racing he likes to watch the race away from others. Jody said his stomach turns, his head pulses and "it's a sickening feeling as a parent."

"My son has such a passion to be a racecar driver," Jody Karam said. "For me to deny him that would be unjust. So, my biggest concern is he does well. I know how much it means to him."

Sage is an athlete to the core.

He loves wrestling as well, finishing fourth in the Northeast Region Tournament the past two years. His goal this winter is to reach the state tournament after being one place away the past two seasons.

He'll have to wait on training for the season, though. He's got bigger goals, which includes winning today. Sage has a competitive fire, which is not uncommon among drivers, but certainly not found in many inexperienced drivers at this level.

"I think this season has really turned me into a man," Karam said. "I came into this season with a mental mindset of 'I'm going to come into this season, I'm going to win this championship. I'm going to take whatever it takes to prepare, I'm going to train, everything I need to do to win this season.' This season has been strictly all business and I feel that's been putting us on top."

For Jody and his wife, Karen, they have seen a change in Sage.

What was once a hobby has grown into a serious career. Sage's manager, Michael Fux, has steered the young driver's career down a path that could lead to a huge opportunity of one day racing IndyCars at the top level.

When that day comes, Sage will be ready.

"At this point, we're at the point of no return," Jody Karam said. "You've got to make it happen. He's proven every year that he has talent. He won at every level every year. So he has the talent. As long as we maintain the sponsorship and the interest in him, it's a slam dunk if he keeps doing what he's doing."

There were tough times for Karam and his family.

Sage admits that his parents had to make difficult financial decisions at times when money was tight. The family, which includes a younger sister, Sydnee (a four-time state swimming medalist), made sacrifices for Sage's future, especially early on.

A few years ago, Sage and his dad once sat in a rusty pickup truck at one track and watched beautiful haulers pull in one after the other for a go-kart race. How could they compete against that?

"We're sleeping (in the truck) instead of hotels and we're saying, 'we're quitting,' we're quitting racing that we can't do it because of money and then all of the sudden some miracle thing would happen that would keep me racing," Sage Karam said. "I'd win a race that I would never come close to winning before.

"When I first started racing cars, this was my last year of racing. I was done. And all of the sudden another miracle comes where I would meet one of the great influential men in my life, Mr. Michael Fux, and he picked me up and put me under his wing and kept my dream alive."